"I called Pinnacle Health kidney transplant program and I made one of the strangest calls of my life, I said 'hello I'm Steve Turner, you don't know me but would you be interested in one of my kidneys?" I mean how do you make a call like that?"
Altruism is defined by Merriam-Webster as unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.
Altruism as defined by those in the kidney donation program is Steven Turner.
He’s a busy man with an important high pressure job as chief counsel of the Commonwealth.
In 2009, after seeing a story about a life saving kidney transplant on CBS 21 News, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
it was Thanksgiving. He looked around the table at his family and put himself in someone else’s shoes.
The seat at the table with someone in desperate need of a kidney.
A person, a fellow human being living day-to-day, thankful to be there but wondering if it would be the last Thanksgiving.
“All the other people at the table have their heads down and they're wondering, is this his or her last thanksgiving?” Steven pondered. “And the power of that just overwhelmed me."
That’s what led to his much talked about, and respected phone call to Pinnacle Health.
"Hello this is Jeri Goldman, organ donor coordinator," answered long-time donor coordinator Jeri Goldman.
“I do remember the call from Steven, he was very excited, and to have someone contact you cold as a Good Samaritan donor is very exciting and not a phone call you get everyday of your life," admitted Jeri.
"When I first called Jeri Goldman, I said I hope my kidney goes to a mom because I couldn't imagine a mom dying while her children are watching."
The call set-off a series of tests. A living donor must be in perfect health to give up a perfectly functioning body part to help a stranger.
"What's crazy is I went into each test as if I had to pass this, even though the tests are not name the 50 state capitals,” Turner commented. “The tests are based on physiology, anatomy and biology. You can't study for it, you either pass it or you don't."
Steven passed.
Within a few months of his original call, he was headed into surgery.
Steven was facing a major operation and all the complications and risks that go with it. but he wasn’t thinking of himself.
"Right now there's about 60 to 70 thousand people who need a kidney and the fuse is lit and when it's done, they're done," Steven Turner explained.
Steven had a special request, when being wheeled into the OR, he didn't want to be laying flat on the gurney seeing that familiar site you see in TV and the movies.
You see Steven Turner want to be sitting up so he could see the doors open and know he was in full control doing what he wanted to do.
Dr. Harold Yang and his team went to work, cutting open a perfectly healthy Steven Turner.
"I’m really high strung when it comes to donors," Dr. Yang commented.
They took Steven’s perfectly good kidney out his body and prepared it for transport to Baltimore, where someone was waiting on another operating table for a second chance at life.
Someone Steven wouldn’t meet until later.
"She had made her peace, with God, she had made her peace and out of the blue she gets a call and she is livin' life to the max, she's full throttle," Steven explained to us.
Steven met the mother his kidney went to anonymously.
She says she’s too shy for an interview, but wanted us to share the photos taken by the hospital.
They became quick friends, sharing stories, visiting each other and all the while remembering all they have in common on the inside.
"She and I couldn't be any different and we are complete blood antigen matches and we have never met and have no relation," Turner told us.
Kidney matching knows no boundaries, not race, religion, man or woman. It’s a simple matter of complex science.
Steven’s kidney triggered a chain, because his recipient’s daughter was not a match but promised to donate a kidney anonymously if her mother got one.
in all, eight operations and four lives saved by one man’s altruistic action.
"This is just me and i don't have a problem saying please put the organ donor on your driver's license, that's a slam dunk,” Turner advised. “You're gone and you save up to eight lives, that's slam dunk easy. This is different."
Yes, Steven is different, outstanding actually.
"I think in all the things in medicine, when you see someone step forward like that it reaffirms all of your faith in humanity," concluded Dr. Harold Yang of Pinnacle Health.
Altruism is defined by Merriam-Webster as unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.
Altruism as defined by those in the kidney donation program is Steven Turner.
He’s a busy man with an important high pressure job as chief counsel of the Commonwealth.
In 2009, after seeing a story about a life saving kidney transplant on CBS 21 News, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
it was Thanksgiving. He looked around the table at his family and put himself in someone else’s shoes.
The seat at the table with someone in desperate need of a kidney.
A person, a fellow human being living day-to-day, thankful to be there but wondering if it would be the last Thanksgiving.
“All the other people at the table have their heads down and they're wondering, is this his or her last thanksgiving?” Steven pondered. “And the power of that just overwhelmed me."
That’s what led to his much talked about, and respected phone call to Pinnacle Health.
"Hello this is Jeri Goldman, organ donor coordinator," answered long-time donor coordinator Jeri Goldman.
“I do remember the call from Steven, he was very excited, and to have someone contact you cold as a Good Samaritan donor is very exciting and not a phone call you get everyday of your life," admitted Jeri.
"When I first called Jeri Goldman, I said I hope my kidney goes to a mom because I couldn't imagine a mom dying while her children are watching."
The call set-off a series of tests. A living donor must be in perfect health to give up a perfectly functioning body part to help a stranger.
"What's crazy is I went into each test as if I had to pass this, even though the tests are not name the 50 state capitals,” Turner commented. “The tests are based on physiology, anatomy and biology. You can't study for it, you either pass it or you don't."
Steven passed.
Within a few months of his original call, he was headed into surgery.
Steven was facing a major operation and all the complications and risks that go with it. but he wasn’t thinking of himself.
"Right now there's about 60 to 70 thousand people who need a kidney and the fuse is lit and when it's done, they're done," Steven Turner explained.
Steven had a special request, when being wheeled into the OR, he didn't want to be laying flat on the gurney seeing that familiar site you see in TV and the movies.
You see Steven Turner want to be sitting up so he could see the doors open and know he was in full control doing what he wanted to do.
Dr. Harold Yang and his team went to work, cutting open a perfectly healthy Steven Turner.
"I’m really high strung when it comes to donors," Dr. Yang commented.
They took Steven’s perfectly good kidney out his body and prepared it for transport to Baltimore, where someone was waiting on another operating table for a second chance at life.
Someone Steven wouldn’t meet until later.
"She had made her peace, with God, she had made her peace and out of the blue she gets a call and she is livin' life to the max, she's full throttle," Steven explained to us.
Steven met the mother his kidney went to anonymously.
She says she’s too shy for an interview, but wanted us to share the photos taken by the hospital.
They became quick friends, sharing stories, visiting each other and all the while remembering all they have in common on the inside.
"She and I couldn't be any different and we are complete blood antigen matches and we have never met and have no relation," Turner told us.
Kidney matching knows no boundaries, not race, religion, man or woman. It’s a simple matter of complex science.
Steven’s kidney triggered a chain, because his recipient’s daughter was not a match but promised to donate a kidney anonymously if her mother got one.
in all, eight operations and four lives saved by one man’s altruistic action.
"This is just me and i don't have a problem saying please put the organ donor on your driver's license, that's a slam dunk,” Turner advised. “You're gone and you save up to eight lives, that's slam dunk easy. This is different."
Yes, Steven is different, outstanding actually.
"I think in all the things in medicine, when you see someone step forward like that it reaffirms all of your faith in humanity," concluded Dr. Harold Yang of Pinnacle Health.